Todd Williams putting name out early for mayoral race

Wednesday

Oct 19, 2016 at 5:41 PM

Todd “Wesley” Williams is gearing up for a mayoral campaign in Worcester's 2017 cycle. While his campaign is a long shot – Williams himself acknowledges the “rough” nature of Worcester elections – he candidacy is unique. Williams identifies as transgender, and has been going through therapy sessions for two years as part of the transition.

Williams launched a campaign against State Sen. Mike Moore in 2014, but did not appear on the ballot. He also pulled nomination papers for an at-large City Council seat in 2015, but did not return them and did not run. His account with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance was closed in February of this year. But Williams said he is serious this time around, even flying to Colorado tomorrow for a strategy session.

“Worcester politics is rough, so we want to make sure we're ready,” Williams said. “When you're up against big names … you want to make sure your name is out there too.”

Williams was a Republican when he first got into politics in 2014, but has since changed his party status, he said, and even voted for Hillary Clinton for U.S. President on his absentee ballot.

Williams does still hold conservative viewpoints, though, including an emphasis on law and order. He takes the typical Republican position that when city leaders say Worcester is a safe city, they are knowingly or unknowingly misrepresenting the city's crime problem.

“If they had real solutions to the problems we safe … why haven't they done anything?” Williams said. “One death, one homicide, one stabbing is one too many. The politicians look at these as numbers.”